In a shock move that could lead to the implosion of Men’s Rowing in the PAC-10, crew coaches voted 4-2 in favor of limiting athletic scholarships in a conference call held last week.

“The Ivy League universities are going to love this move,” said USC Men’s Coach Gene Kininmonth. “If implemented, Harvard, Princeton and Brown will have a huge advantage over PAC-10 schools since technically, their rowers are given ‘need based aid’ and not athletic scholarships.”


- 2005 National Champions Harvard Crew

According to PAC-10 minutes of the Conference call held on September 8, Stanford University’s Coach Craig Amerkhanian made the proposal for instituting a financial aid limit of five equivalency grants-in-aid.

Following a heated discussion between rival coaches, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA and Washington State voted in favor of limiting the athletic grants in aid for men’s rowing programs in the PAC-10, effective August 1, 2006. Washington and UC Berkeley voted against the proposal.

“Those who favored the proposal stated it was in the best interests of the growth of the sport in the Conference. Those who were opposed believed that a unilateral limit in the PAC-10 would harm the ability of the Conference to compete nationally, if others were not similarly limited. Particular concern was expressed about the ability of the Ivy League institutions to use need-based aid to provide subsidies in men’s crew. It was clear there was a sharp distinction among PAC-10 members in existing financial aid expenditures in men’s crew, as well as the philosophical evaluation of what was appropriate and desirable.”
-PAC-10 Minutes

The proposal will now go to the Senior Women’s Administrators of the PAC-10 to make a final decision. Coach Kininmonth, who opposes the proposals, says he doubts that the scholarship limitations will take effect. “The PAC-10 is the Conference of Champions and never before in its history has it voted to limit financial aid to its student-athletes or acted to place the PAC-10 in an inferior position nationally,” said Kininmonth.

Kininmonth says Cal and Washington legitimize Men’s Rowing on the West Coast. “Those programs have each invested over a century in this sport to reach the levels they have. The California Bears have represented the United States at three Olympic Games and won three Olympic gold medals in Men’s Rowing. The proposed legislation would only guarantee they could never compete at such levels again.”


-1948 Olympic-Champion Cal Bears Crew

Kininmonth says the proposals are Stanford and Oregon State’s way to lower the standard on competition. “The shame of it is, in their ‘race to the bottom’ they have enlisted the votes of two club teams in UCLA and Washington State to form a majority,” Kininmonth added.

Women’s Rowing allows a maximum of 20 athletic scholarships per institution and the sport has experienced huge growth at both the collegiate and high school levels in recent years.

OTHER PAC-10 NEWS:
In other news, the PAC-10 has proposed legislation to make Men’s Rowing an NCAA sport with a championship. Action would be taken at the January 2006 Management Council meeting. A threshold of 50 institutions is needed to create an NCAA National Collegiate Championship. There are currently 28 Division I programs that sponsor men’s rowing and four Division II programs and 32 Division III programs meaning that threshold is met.

A downside of the proposed legislation is that it will not permit men’s rowing institutions to race overseas at crew events such as England’s Henley Royal Regatta. Women’s Rowing programs are permitted to travel overseas once every four years.